Mets

[Amazin69]

Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees all projected to have sit-downs with Roki Sasaki. (Giants also VERY interested, but nothing confirmed as yet.)

ETA: Giants have in fact been confirmed as having met with Sasaki, ditto Padres and Rangers, as well.

It's important to remember the best thing about Sasaki…he's 23 years old. Give me a rotation headed by Sasaki and Sproat for the next 7 years, and I'll definitely be optimistic, even if Jeremy Hefner still has the PC job.

[Amazin69]

All arb-eligible Mets (Peterson, Megill, Blackburn, Siri, Tyrone Power, Torrens) sign one year deals.

[Amazin69]

Based on his looking really good in 10.2 September innings, MLB.com's Kennedi Landry predicts that Jacob deGrom will win the 2025 AL Cy Young Award.

Oh, Kennedi. You dear sweet girl. It's nice to be young, isn't it?

[Westheim]

Latest waffle on MLB.com is that Pete put forth a 3-year deal with opt-outs to the Metsies, which if it came together would be guaranteed to give me anxiety for years to come, and who wouldn't want that...!?

Pete, waiting for an offer, probably:

[Amazin69]

The Athletic (paywalled, no link, I'm quoting MLB.com) is saying that the Mets have an interest in Tanner Scott and have likely met with him.

A new closer? And after all Edlose has done for us!! For shame, David.

(i.e., we can only dream.)

[Amazin69]

Well, fu…dge!

No Sasaki for the Mets.

(Or the Pinstripers or the Strangers, and the Blind Squirrels have pretty much admitted they're kidding themselves. Looks like the Dodgers or the Padres…or mayyyybe the Jays. Maybe.)

Well, we love our rotation as is, right? Right?

[Amazin69]

Oooh-ooh-ooh! Big News!

Mets sign AJ Minter for 1 year/$11 million, with an option for AJ to re-up on the same terms next season.

I mean, not BIG news. But bigger than nothing. Better a Minter than a splinter.

[Amazin69]

Can't get rid of that Stinker! Mets re-sign Winker!

(I know, I know. But it's only 1 year/$8 million, which is like pocket lint nowadays. And if you wish to refer to Jesse as "Pocket Lint" this season, I completely understand.)

However…

…MLB network ran a clip claiming that Andy Martino tweeted that the Mets have given up on Peeeeeeeeeeete/Boras and are now looking to add Winker and a reliever "possibly a top one" and move on. Further "reporting" is that Toronto wants Pete (well, naturally, Polar Bears belong closer to the Arctic) but would still want to keep Vladi Jr. as the DH/1B partner, even though the Mets have a lot of candidates at 2B/3B (assuming Mauricio heals and Candelita re-signs) and a trade might make sense.

Grrr. We already HAVE a Vladi! (Not the right one, but still.). And the "proposed lineup" they showed sucks balls, to put it delicately.

1. Frankie Sweet Money (can't believe it's taken me FIVE YEARS to come up with that one), SS
2. Soto, RF
3. Swaggy V, 1B

acceptable so far, but…

4. Nimmo, LF. (Really? Mr. Pointy as a full-time clean-up guy?)
5. Pocket Lint/The Decaying Corpse of Starling Marte, DH
6. Alvarez, C
7. Squirrel McKnees, 2B
8. "Hey, Siri, Name a Mediocre CF", CF
9. TBD, 3B

Ugh! And not only because I have higher hopes for Our Current Acuña than 9th.

(I mean, I grant you that Pappa Ron never made it past AA, but still. We have 2/3 of the family, can't let the Nok-a-Homas have ALL the talent in those genes.)

[Westheim]

If the Mets bring back Winker the Stinker instead of lovely Pete, I'll root for the Gnats next season!

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Westheim

If the Mets bring back Winker the Stinker instead of lovely Pete, I'll root for the Gnats next season!

There will always be a space in your heart for Rosario, huh? Understandable.

(He is 29 now, though. So he may have lost some range in the field.)

[Westheim]

If Amed Rosario had any less range, he'd collapse the entire ballpark and city around him into negative space.

[Amazin69]

So does the Santander deal (5 years, $18.5 mn/yr) mean that there aren't enough Loonies left in the Jays' piggy-bank to pay Pete? It's unclear.

Anthony Di Como (who openly admits he's rooting for Peeeete to stay) agrees with all the reports that the Mets won't budge beyond 3 years, $23.3 mn per. Since the $70 mn total is less than half what Pete/Boras turned down last season, there's the argument that pride will drive him elsewhere. But, to quote the Doors, "the future's uncertain and the end is always near."

Allegedly, it's hard to buy into a long-term plan for a guy who went from .869 to .821 to .788 OPS, from 131 to 118 to 88 RBI. Sigh.

Di Como also has hopes for David Wright in tonight's HoF ballot reveal, but I just can't see it. The argument is that Wright has relatively high OPS and similar numbers…but of course that's because he only played 1585 games and injuries wiped out his decline phase.

9 ASG, 3 Gold Gloves…but no rings, no MVPs and not enough "black ink" to overcome the lack of counting stats. He sits on the Hall of Very Good bench with Mattingly, I'm afraid. JMO.

[Amazin69]

Mets HoF results:

Wags, IN
Voltron, 70.3% and the front-runner for next year.
K-Rud, 10.2% (Oh, joy…)
Captain America, 8.1% (progress…)

Grandy-man, 3%, dropped.

[Westheim]

Captain America ain't gonna make it.

I don't know jack **** about Marvel stuff, so no clever pun here.

[Amazin69]

Well, with the elections held in January, you could say David is not much of a Winter Soldier…but that's stretching things.

Hey, do you want to get REALLY angry? Of course you do! Allow me, then…

…Carlos Mendoza interview, in which the skipper talks about how excited he is to add Soto to the talent pool.…

…which includes Frankie Sweet Money
…and Nimmo
…and Vientos and Alvarez
…and Brett Baty (wtf???) and Our Acuña.

Mendoza Line also discusses the pitching, and what a great leader The Decaying Corpse of Starling Marte is, and how he's glad that Winker the Stinker is accepting the role of 4th OF and how they're working with Vientos to learn 1B, taking throws and teaching him positioning…

…and NOT A SINGLE mention of (nor reference to) the six-year incumbent at 1B. Not even "Mark is learning 1B to give him more skills, besides 3B and OF". Nope. Swaggy V is playing exactly ONE position in 2025, it seems. And it's not the Hot Corner, it's the (former) Polar Ice Cap.

Grr.

(Also zero mention of McNeil, which is strange, given that AFAIK, Jeff is still on the team. Huh. Time for Baty and Marte, but not Our Beloved Squirrel?? Huh.)

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Can't get rid of that Stinker! Mets re-sign Winker!

(I know, I know. But it's only 1 year/$8 million, which is like pocket lint nowadays. And if you wish to refer to Jesse as "Pocket Lint" this season, I completely understand.)

However…

…MLB network ran a clip claiming that Andy Martino tweeted that the Mets have given up on Peeeeeeeeeeete/Boras and are now looking to add Winker and a reliever "possibly a top one" and move on. Further "reporting" is that Toronto wants Pete (well, naturally, Polar Bears belong closer to the Arctic) but would still want to keep Vladi Jr. as the DH/1B partner, even though the Mets have a lot of candidates at 2B/3B (assuming Mauricio heals and Candelita re-signs) and a trade might make sense.

Grrr. We already HAVE a Vladi! (Not the right one, but still.). And the "proposed lineup" they showed sucks balls, to put it delicately.

1. Frankie Sweet Money (can't believe it's taken me FIVE YEARS to come up with that one), SS
2. Soto, RF
3. Swaggy V, 1B

acceptable so far, but…

4. Nimmo, LF. (Really? Mr. Pointy as a full-time clean-up guy?)
5. Pocket Lint/The Decaying Corpse of Starling Marte, DH
6. Alvarez, C
7. Squirrel McKnees, 2B
8. "Hey, Siri, Name a Mediocre CF", CF
9. TBD, 3B

Ugh! And not only because I have higher hopes for Our Current Acuña than 9th.

(I mean, I grant you that Pappa Ron never made it past AA, but still. We have 2/3 of the family, can't let the Nok-a-Homas have ALL the talent in those genes.)

I know you're attempting to be cute..but if peeps can't understand what you're saying...

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

I know you're attempting to be cute..but if peeps can't understand what you're saying...

Well, any Mets fan can.

1. "Frankie Sweet Money" is a reference to Lindor's contract and a play on the nickname of the LAST notable "Frankie" in these parts, Frank "Frankie Sweet Music" Viola. I also note that I've had 5 years to think this up, given that Lindor is entering his fifth season with the team.

(Yes, yes, Lindor's contract looks like bus fare compared to Soto's, but Frankie's was waaaay more shocking, at the time.)

2. Soto
3. "Swaggy V" is apparently the name his teammates call Vientos, as discussed on this very page.
4. Nimmo
5. My calling Winker "Pocket Lint" is literally in the very post you quoted, and "the Decaying Corpse of Starling Marte" has Marte's name right there to see, even if you haven't followed the progress in this thread from "The Broken Corpse of Starling Marte" to the current "The Decaying Corpse". It's a reference to his age and injuries, obviously. (See also "The Ghost of Rich Hill", who lasted three more seasons even after I declared his career "dead".)
6. Alvarez
7. "Squirrel" is of course our beloved Jeff McNeill (just because "Polar Bear" Pete Alonso gets a few more mentions doesn't mean we don't love our little Rodent) and "McKnees" is a reference to how Jeff got ground down early last season because David "Wild Turkey" Stearns was apparently too drunk to get us a back up infielder last May, and thus Jeff had to play Every. Single. Inning. at 2B, thus grinding his knees to powder. A bit more inside than some others, but easy enough if you know.
8. Predictable "Siri" joke about Jose Siri whom (if you didn't know) the Mets have traded for and who will be our new (mediocre) CF.
9. TBD means what it always means.

So only 3 of the 8 require deeper knowledge, and nothing particularly obscure. No need to panic, keep pushing.

("David 'Wild Turkey' Stearns" is a quadruple-homage to

1. David Stearns, the current Mets GM
2. "Turkey" Stearnes, the Hall of Famer
3. "Wild Turkey" a brand of Bourbon
4. Recent Mets GM Zak Scott, who was suspended for DUI, not long before his firing.

So, when I think David Stearns is doing something exceedingly stupid [such as refusing call up a middle IF to save McNeill's knees], I refer to him as "David 'Wild Turkey' Stearns" implying that judgment this bad can only be the result of drunkenness. Got it?)

[Amazin69]

Rumors and stuff…

The Jays are still interested in Peeeete as they are apparently not yet out of cash after signing Santander.. Which makes sense, since it's not as if they use real money up there; it's easy to be generous with the cheap stuff.

"Yeah, you were a big man up there in Montreal, throwing around those 55¢ dollars…but get you back home and it's like your pockets are sewed shut!" —Steve Stone to Wayne Larrivee, WGN, sometime between May 10-12, 1996

(The Cubs had dropped 3 straight up north before visiting Big Shea, where the Mets took the first two, before Jim Bullinger shut them out on Sunday. I was in Los Angeles, and so had to depend on WGN in those pre-Extra Innings days.)

Mike Lupica (still working at age 72, somewhat to my surprise) laments that Peeete might not return.

Frankie Sweet Money went to Paris for Fashion Week. We have video. Okay, then.

The Asstros have sold the naming rights for the former Minute Maid Park to Daikin, the Japanese air-conditioning giant, so it is now Daikin Park. The Mets open their season there, barely two months from now. (March 27). At today's Amazin' Day fan event at Citi Field, Brandon Nimmo says he'll be ready to go…unless he isn't, as he's still recovering from plantar fasciatis. Yoicks

Both Vientos and Baty say it's "really fun" to be learning how to play 1B. You know…just in case.

[Amazin69]

Video from the Amazin' Day press conference, which is turning out to be…not so Amazin' for us.

DAVID STEARNS: We've got a lot of great young players at the corner spots in our organization, and we're excited to give them a chance.
FANS: BOOO!!

Aside from Baty, I guess Stearns is talking about Ryan Clifford, who posted a decent .815 as a Rumble Pony while playing mostly 1B (even though he was billed as an outfielder before we got him in the Verlander trade). Nice enough (21 years old this year, a lefty), but my heart isn't exactly going pitty-pat.

UNCLE STEVIE: This is a business. Scott Boras is trying to **** us over. I don't like the negotiations, we're not going to cave. If they want to come crawling back and take OUR deal, I might be open to it…but they'd better hurry. Otherwise, I'm fine with moving on.

Uncle Stevie uses more-polite language. (Slightly.) Yikes.

Well, the blue in Toronto's unis goes with his eyes, right?

[Amazin69]

Oh, and just like Nimmo, our big bullpen acquistion, A.J. Minter "hopes" to be ready by Opening Day. Apparently, Minter had hip surgery last August and hasn't thrown from a mound since.

"And you're what, shocked and appalled?" —Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I mean, it's the Mets. Come on, now.